Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/432

396 the breast and sides pale grey, the lower tail-coverts tinged with yellow, as are the lower wing-coverts.

Length 8| inches, extent of wings 14f ; bill along the ridge 1^'j, along the edge 1 j ; tarsus j%.

The Female resembles the Male, but is somewhat smaller, and the bright spot on the head is paler.

The leguminous plant of which a twig is represented in the plate, is one of the handsomest productions of Key West, where I found it in full flower in the month of May. It reaches the height of twenty feet or more, and has a rather slender, but elegant stem, of which the wood is as brittle as that of our common acacias. The pods are eight or nine inches in length, and of the size of a swan's quill ; the seeds, which are dark-brown when ripe, glossy and globular, he at regular intervals. The deep green of the long pendulous leaves, and the bright red of the large papilionaceous flowers, form a beautiful contrast. Many of these trees were planted near the house of my friend Dr Benjamin Strobel, under whose hospitable roof the twig was drawn. I saw no plants of the species on any other Key.